Carbon monoxide eliminator



K. REDINGER CARBON MONOXIDE ELIMINATOR July 27', w43.

Filed March 18, 1942 3 Sheets-Sheet l J 1 vu www: imm/$113.

SMM/vlug July 27, 1943. K @Emmi-3ER 2935259543 CARBON MONOXIDE ELIMINATGR Filed March 18, 1942 3 SheetS-Sheet 2 1 yuan/to@ WHL EMHQEH.

K. @Emmsa 2,325,543 CARBON MONOXIDE ELIMINATOR Filed March 18, '.1942

3 Sheeis-Shc-et 3 #ffl/4% @f Patented July 27, 1943 UNITED S'ITAIESA PAT EN OFFIE 2,325,543 CARBON MoNoxrDs ELIMINA'IVORk Lari Redinger, Feasterville, Pa. Application Marcil 1s, 1942, serial No. 435,2.37.

s claims. (o1. 12s-,119)

This invention relates to an improvement in carbon monoxide eliminator, and has for an jectrto providean improvedY system for eliminatingthe Carbonmonoxide, and lother Aincor'npletely oxidizedI gases, fromk they exhaust gases. from' intermal z combustion engines and theV like.

Agfurther object of this `invention is toincrease the poivelandeconomy of an internal combush tion engine by separating the carbon monoxide from the exhaust and returning it to the engine to supplement lthe fuel-being .supplied thereto.

Carbon monoxidezis apoisonous anduanger ousrgas and its eiect upon human beings is permanent, usually causing death within a few minutes. alw ayspresent in the exhaust gasesirom internal combustion engines; and a large number of .persons, usually auto-mobilists, are killed-,eeen year by carbon monoxide exhaustedby automobile an other internal .combustionengines Sincethe gas isgcolorless and tasteless, having a verykfaint peculiar odo r its "presence is. not readily noticed and the victimjs soon rendered unconscious Without realizing that. he. is .being gradually killed by adeadlygas.

It is therefore anobject of this inventionto provide a means forming a part of an exhaust systeniof v a gas. engine toi separate. out. and `dispose of the carbon dioxide, the Waterivapor and.

the residual; atmosphere. such 4 as, nitrogen, and.j 5

dispose ofA such tothe atmosphere andv re` turn thecarbonmonoxide to the internalcom'- bustion 1 enginel as aj supplementary. fuel supply.

A further objectof this, invention is to provide an exhaust system for an internal combustionv 9 engine which includes as onen of .its Afeatures. a heater toincreasethe comici-north@ vehicle. passengers, inaddition to the means forsepiarating thecarbon monoxide and returning. it to the manifold of the engine, l, Y

With the. foregoing and other objectsinview, this inventioncornprises the vconstructions, combinations, and arrangements of. parts herein.-v after setforth, disclosed andclaimed and .sho-wn. on the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the systemesappliedL to the chassis of" an automobile, the Vbody being omittedf' Y vFig. `2 is a side elevational View of Fig. r1;

Fig. 3 is anv elevational sectional view of the exhaust cooler; Y y v Figs. '4, 5 and k6` are ysectionalviews on lines 4 4', E-f- Sand 6;'5 o'fFig. 3 r; I y Y Figi'l is asidefelevatinal view partly broken away ofth', Inui'er;f

It iswell known that carbon rnonoxideis Fig. 8 is a partly broken away' planvview'of the car heater;

Fig. 9 is a side elevationalv-ievv, partly broken away, of the condenser or rst separator;

Fig. 10 is anedgerelevational View, partlybrof ken away, of Fig. 9;

Fig. ll is a sectional view through the eleaher;

121s aseetional View partlyrvin elevationV through the second. separator; Aand Figs. 13 and14 are sectional views on lines i3- E and Ifle-l4 of Fig. 12.

There is shown atk ISI the exhaust system of this invention as mounted on the chassis II of an automobile, the chassis I i iandrthe' motorl I2'l being shown.dagrammatically,

Coming frointhe exhaust manifoldv I3 of the motor l2 is the exhaust pipe I4 which leads to' a muler I5. From ,themuiiier I5-there is a pipe I6 connecting toa car heater' Il, while a pipe` IBS connects the carheater I1 tofan exhausircoolerY 25. From thexexhaustcooler.29a pipe 2li-con-Y nects to thecondenser'or first separator F-rorn this condenQerZZ, a pipe 23 connects to the second separator ,2-2.- Apipei connects the secNV ond. separator 241130 a strainer or cleaner 23;- and* from this cleaner `2li a Vpipe 21 connects to the intake manifold 28.r

The exhaust gas coming-from .the pipe ill into` the Inuilier i5 has its .direction reversed'by thev baille connections 30 connectingthe-pipe pipe IS within the muffler. i thus iendingl to silence and smooth out the Flow o gas there-v f normal pressures customarilywi-thin the pipe .I4 but permitting the vvalveQSI vtoppen vshould the.

pressure become excessiveas incase of. a backfire, thus preventing the muiier andrernainingv parts of the system. from being wrecked by the.

force of. the explosion.

Thereaften. the spring 34 lautomatiealiy recloses the valve 3L. restoring the ,muffler rI5=to normal operation.`

The car heater I'I at the end -of the pipe `I6 consists of a plurality ,of cross-eonneotions' between pipes !6 and. I8; the pipes IE :and VIl! fherfefi lying side Aby side. The heater I'l is inthe shape: of. an opening through-,the'iloorfof the-vehicle# and permits air: to ,passi through this.. opening The spring 3ft-is ol such tension that it is .y

andthrough the grid 31 placed in the floor 38 of the automobile. This grid 31 may be removable, permitting a closure to be substituted therefor in hot weather, so as to prevent heated air from rising therethrough; or, if desired, the grid 31 Ymay, have conventional means for opening and closing the same.

From the car heater, the exhaust gases pass through the pipe E8 to the exhaust cooler 20, which may-bey secured as by bolts lil to the automobile chassis i l. This exhaust cooler consists of a shell di having a forwardly directed scoop 42 and a pair of rearwardly directed scoops 43.

integrally struck out or" the top thereof, so that air may enter through scoop 42 and may be sucked out through the scoops 43.' Additional -scoops may be provided if desired.

Y The pipe i8 is connected to the pipe lili within the shell 20 being supported in position therein by brackets 45 above a division plate 36 dividing the cooler` chamber lll' surrounding the pipe 4d from the return chamber 48. The pipe i4 is connected through the plate 46 to the return chambe'r d8 by having tongues 50 struck out of the pipe fifi and extended throughsuitable apertures l to return chamber 48.

At the end of pipe dil, behind the rear wall 52 of exhaust cooler 2G, there is provided a butterfly valve 53 having a control arm 5d connected to a cable 55 and leading to a hand lever 56, so that when desired the entire exhaust gases may be 'discharged through an exhaust discharge pipe V57 without separating out the carbon monoxide gas therefrom.

When valveV 53 is closed, however', the exhaustV gas is` considerably cooled bythe air passing through scoops l2 and 43, into and out of the cooling chamberel' surrounding pipe 5G. The exhaust gases pass from the pipe L34 through openings 5l into return chamber d8 and thence through pipe 2l to the condenser or iirst separator 22. Thiscondenser 22=is cylindrical in shape, the pipe 2l entering at a tangent so that the exhaust gases coming therein tends to whirl Some of the water vapor condenses and, for.

this reason, most of the openings 5S are shown at the bottom, although itis understood that additional openings may be provided as desired.

Asa result ofthis condensenjmost of the heavier gases, except the carbon. monoxide, are

.Y separated out and discharged. Carbon monoxide tends to gather in the center and is taken out in the direction of the arrow 5S by means of an outlet pipe 6l located substantially at the axial center and connected to the pipe 23. The pipe 23 leads tothe'second carbon monoxide separator 24. This second separator 24 is cylindrical in shape and the pipe 23 discharges the gas therein along its axial center. The exhaust gas 23, reaching the second separator 24, is principally carbon monoxide, but there may be some other gases still carried along therewith. The

gas entering the separator 24 strikes a coneshaped `head 6I. ofthe outlet `member 62. The

heavier gases are therefore deilected outwardly against the inside of the cylindrical shell of the second separator 24 and escape through the openings G3 past the poppet valves 64 held in Yposition by very light springs against the brackets welded or otherwise secured to the shell of the second separator 24. The outlet member 52 is secured through the exit wall 6l of the second separator 2G. This outlet member 62 is provided with an axial aperture 68 and a plurality of radial apertures leading thereto. This outlet member 62 occupying the axial center of the cylindrical-shaped second separator 24, only carbon monoxide gas will pass through the openings 'IU to the axial opening G3 and thus through the wall 'i of the separator 24.

A cone-shaped outlet 'H connects the separator 24 to the pipe 25. Within this cone-shaped outlet 'Il apair of grid members 'I2 and 13 are provided for holding a mass of steel wool 'I4 therein to act as a cleaner should any dust particles accumulate.

The pipe 25 connects to the cleaner 25, which is merely a container for another mass of steel wool 'I6 held between two grids 'H and 18. From here, the finally cleaned carbon monoxide gas passes through the pipe 2l through the intake manifold 28 and thus through the carburetor back into the internal combustion engine or motorV l2.

In operation, the exhaust gas passes through the system thus described, serves to heat the car and, at the same time, separate out the carbon monoxide from the remaining gases, unless the hand-lever 56 has been operated to open the valve 53 and discharge the entire exhaust gases to the atmosphere as is desirable under certain circumstances.

When within the city, however, or in congested neighborhoods, it is most desirable to prevent the carbon monoxide from reaching the atmosphere, and additionally, as a matter of economy, to use it as a source of fuel.v In such cases, it is separated out by the separator 22 and 24 and passes back to the motor or internal combustion engine I2, thus increasing the economy of operation. i f

While the preferred form of this invention has been shown and set forth, it will be understood that this invention is not limited to the particular detailed structure hereinbefore disclosed but that modications and changes may bev made within the scope of what is hereinafter claimed.

Having thus set forth and disclosed the nature of this invention, what is claimed is:

1. A carbon monoxide eliminator for an internal combustion engine comprising exhaust means for receiving the exhaust gases from the engine, cooling means connected to the exhaust means for cooling said gases, carbon Ymonoxide separator means connected to said cooler means, said vcarbon monoxide Yseparator means discharging means, returning the carbon monoxide to the internal combustion engine, said carbon monoxide separator means including a cylindrical member, a connection to said cylindrical member discharging the exhaust gases into said cylindrical member tangentially thereof, and a discharge member from said cylindrical member extending axially thereof, said cylindrical member having apertures therethrough permitting the heavier constituents of the exhaust gases to escape to the atmosphere while the lighter carbon monoxide gas is forced to the center and discharged therefrom back toward the engine.

3. A carbon monoxide eliminator for an internal combustion engine comprising exhaust means for receiving the exhaust gases from the engine, cooling means connected to the exhaust means for cooling said gases, carbon monoxide separator means connected to said cooler means, said carbon monoxide separator means discharging exhaust gases other than carbon monoxide to the atmosphere, means connecting the separator means, returning the carbon monoxide to the internal combustion engine, said separator means including a cylindrical member, an exhaust gas connection discharging into said cylindrical member axially thereof at one end, an outlet member extending axially from the other end of said cylindrical member, a cone-shaped head on said outlet member in the path of the entering exhaust gases, said cylindrical member having a plurality of escape apertures therethrough, whereby the heavier constituents of exhaust gases striking said cone-shaped member are deflected to the escape apertures, and the lighter carbon haust gases other than carbon monoxide to the atmosphere, means connecting the separator means, returning the carbon monoxide to the internal combustion engine, said separator means including a cylindrical member, an exhaust gas connection discharging into said cylindrical member axially thereof at one end, an outlet member extending axially from the other end of said cylindrical member, a cone-shaped head on said outlet member in the path of the entering exhaust gases, said cylindrical member having a plurality of escape apertures, and a poppet valve over each of said escape apertures.

5. An exhaust system for an internal combustion engine, said exhaust system including an exhaust pipe leading from the engine, a muiiier connected to said exhaust pipe, exhaust cooling means connected to said means, said exhaust cooling means including a car heater and an exhaust cooler, said exhaust cooler including means for forcibly directing a flow of air about the exhaust gases, a condenser connected to said muiiler for condensing out the vapor and discharging the vapor and heavier constituents therefrom, and means connecting said condenser back to the engine to return the lighter carbon monoxide gas thereto.

6. A device for separating carbon monoxide from the exhaust gases of an internal combustion engine, discharging the other constituents to the atmosphere and returning the carbon monoxide to the engine for reuse, comprising exhaust gas cooling means, and a carbon monoxide centrifugal separator connected to said cooling means, said centrifugal separator including a cylindrical member, exhaust gas pipe discharging into said centrifugal member tangentially thereof, and a carbon monoxide collecting pipe extending into the cylindrical member axially thereof, said cylindrical member having apertures in its cylindrical Wall whereby the exhaust gases entering the cylindrical member are centrifugally separated, forcing the carbon monoxide gas to the axial center, and discharging the remaining gases and vapor through the cylindrical wall apertures.

KARL REDINGER. 

